The functions of Korean proverbs in the political discourse
of the English-language media of South Korea

Shekhovtsova Tatyana Akimovna ORCID: 0009-0008-7660-7462 Senior lecturer, Department of Cross-cultural Communication and Translation Studies, School of Pedagogy and Linguistics, Vladivostok State University 600011, Russia, Primorsky Krai, Vladivostok, ul. Kaplunova, 8, sq. 381 ytakim@mail.ru

Introduction

Proverbs, being an integral attribute of folk folklore, reflect the cultural originality and uniqueness of the national character. The study of proverbs and sayings was carried out from various positions. Such Russian scientists as G. L. Permyakov ^[20], N. M. Shansky ^[22], F. I. Buslaev ^[5], V. P. Anikin ^[3], N. F. Alefirenko ^[2], V. A. Maslova ^[15], V. M. Mokienko ^[17] devoted their research to the study of proverbs] and others . Among foreign researchers, V. Mider ^[23], V. Karadzic ^[8] should be noted. According to Afanasyev A. N., "proverbs in their very form are not subject to distortion and therefore are a monument to long-established views. Proverbs are the main source of ancestral wisdom, keepers of memory and a tool for transmitting human experience" ^[4].

Despite the deep interest of scientists in the study of parodies since the 70s of the last century, the issue of the linguistic status of proverbs has not been fully resolved. This problem also extends to Korean proverbs. In the Korean language, there is no clear distinction between the types of sayings: proverbs, sayings, and proverbs are represented by the general term "proverbial sayings" or "parodies". Previously, there was a complex terminology to denote the concepts of proverbs, sayings, aphorisms and sayings. There are ten terms corresponding to these concepts. Such terms can be divided into two categories according to their origin: a) terms of Chinese origin – "soktam", "yen", "kiyegen", "kiyektam", "kyengu", "kymen", "soksel"; b) the actual Korean names are "yammal", "sanmal". In the work of the famous folklorist Ko Jonok "The Study of Korean proverbs and sayings", three terms of Chinese origin are mainly used – "soktam", "yen", "kiyegen". Of the listed terms, Ko Jonok distinguishes "soctam", which in the Russian equivalent corresponds to the concept of "vernacular expression" ^[14]. In this study, Korean proverbs and sayings will be designated by the terms: paroemias, proverbial sayings.

The main stereotypes of national consciousness are reconstructed through paroemias. Paremias allow us to study more deeply the peculiarities of everyday life, traditions, and differences in the relationships of people of a particular culture. Proverbs and sayings, as a means of storing and transmitting cultural code, are of particular interest to modern science. The development of communicative linguistics makes it possible to study proverbs as paremiological units of a language with a wide range of functions. Of particular interest are the studies of the communicative and pragmatic functions of paroemias. In the modern media space, proverbs, "functionally reorienting", acquire new communicative potencies ^[12].

Linguistic material in political discourse is represented by media materials, speeches by politicians, slogans, campaign materials, etc. O. V. Nikolaeva and O. V. Gavrilenko for the first time considered the problem of using Chinese proverbs in Russian discourse based on newspaper articles within the framework of linguistic-cognitive and linguistic-pragmatic approaches ^{[6, pp. 1-11]}. The study of the communicative and pragmatic functions of Korean proverbs in the materials of the English-language media of South Korea on political topics also requires special attention.

The relevance is due to the formation of cognitive-discursive paremiology; the active use of proverbs in communication, and the growing interest of linguists in the communicative and pragmatic potential of paremias. The study of the functional purpose of the analyzed proverbs is determined by the importance of revealing the cultural code of Korean folk proverbs to a multinational audience through the English language.

 In this paper, the comparative study is not limited to the paradigmatic analysis of Korean parodies. The functional paradigm expands the possibilities of studying the discursive use of Korean proverbs in English-language media.

To achieve this goal, the following research tasks were set: to analyze the basic classifications of the functions of paremiological units; to study the features of the use of Korean paremias in political discourse; to identify the functional potential of Korean paremias in English-language articles;

The methodological basis of the research is an interdisciplinary combination of cognitive, pragmatic and discursive approaches.

To solve the tasks set, the following research methods were used: communicative and pragmatic analysis based on the interpretation of the meaning and functions of proverbs within the context of a contextual situation; comparative analysis of paroemias in the context of interlanguage communication. To determine the role of paremiological units in the communication process, elements of discursive analysis were also used in political texts.

The theoretical basis of the study was the work of such famous domestic and foreign scientists as: A.V. Kunin ^[11], G. L. Permyakov ^[20], Lim Su ^[13], exploring proverbs as an object of folklore and linguistics; N. F. Alifirenko ^[2], O. B. Abakumova ^[1], O. V. Nikolaeva ^[18], E. S. Kubryakova ^[10], based on the modern cognitive-discursive paradigm of linguistics in general and phraseology in particular.   

The research material was the English-language media texts of the Korean political discourse, in which Korean proverbs are used. The number of analyzed media texts on political topics is 120 with 94% of non-repeating proverbs (109 proverbs). The sources of the material are online versions of South Korean newspapers Korea Economic Daily, Korea JoongAng Daily, The Korea Herald, The Korea Times and portals of leading South Korean news agencies with chronological sampling frames for the keywords "Korean proverb", "Korean saying" from 2006 to 2023. In addition, the following collections were used in the work Korean proverbs in Russian and English: Lim Su "Golden words of the Korean people" ^[13], Lim Su "Korean folk sayings" ^[14], Permyakov G.L. "Selected proverbs and sayings of the peoples of the East" ^[19], online collection "100 Korean Proverbs with Meanings for TOPIK" ^[25] and other Internet sources.

The object of our research is Korean proverbs in the English-language political discourse of the South Korean media.

The subject of the research is the communicative and pragmatic functions of Korean proverbs in English-speaking political mass media discourse as an instrument of the author's influence on a wide audience.

The practical significance of the research lies in the possibility of using materials in lecture courses on cognitive linguistics, linguoculturology, intercultural communication, to expand and deepen the content of practical courses for students of philological and linguistic specialties of universities, in applied educational activities.

Discussion and results

Modern journalism with its new characteristics: interactivity, multimedia, hypertextuality has acquired new opportunities to influence the reader: providing more information, retaining interest, interaction. Most of the printed newspaper publishers offer their websites with the opportunity to study the material in different languages, especially in English. For example, in South Korea, the main national newspapers publish their articles on their English-language websites. The topics of the publications are diverse, but most of them are devoted to political problems: internal issues of the state, as well as foreign policy interests and conflicts. Proverbial expressions are represented in all genres of the press: informational, analytical, artistic and journalistic. In modern political discourse, the authors widely use paremiological units as a means of influencing the mass consciousness of people. The scope of the functioning of paroemias in the political text is quite extensive.

The trends of the modern scientific paradigm are aimed at the study of the communicative functions of language. The communicative-pragmatic analysis makes it possible to examine the text not only for the use of linguistic methods, but also for the communicative features of the text in a certain communicative situation with specific pragmatic attitudes of the authors of the speech work. "A person uses language as an instrument of communication, the language units reflect the person himself" ^{[21, p. 4]}. The paroemias in the discourse represent the attitude and assessment of the speaker. In a certain communicative situation, paremia carries a cognitive and pragmatic burden. Using proverbs in the communication process, various pragmatic goals are achieved: attracting attention, explaining what has been stated, refuting, proving, persuading, justifying, etc. ^{[7, p. 235]}

 Proverbs outside of a specific usage situation allow for many interpretations. According to Abakumova O. B., the proverb has three levels of content (meaning): literal, figurative, pragmatic ^[1]. Depending on the discursive situation and the personal intention of the author in highlighting a certain level of content of the proverb, the parody can perform various functions.

Currently, there is no unified classification of the functions of paremiological units. The problem of paremia classifications is still relevant. Based on the classification of the functions of paroemias by G. L. Permyakova ^{[20, pp. 87-94]}, the functions of proverbs can be divided into primary (general linguistic) and secondary (general grammatical). The primary linguistic functions of proverbs are communicative and nominative functions. General statistical functions include directive (prescriptive/ regulatory/ instructive), modeling, cumulative (generalization of the life experience of the people), evaluative, predictive functions.

In this study, we rely on the classification of functions of A.V. Kunin's paremias, which classifies proverbs and sayings as communicative phraseological units. A.V. Kunin identifies "constant" (communicative, nominative, cognitive) and "variable" (semantic, pragmatic) functions of phraseological units in the English language ^{[11, p. 111]}. Semantic includes voluntary, deictic and productive. The varieties of the pragmatic function are stylistic, cumulative, directive, evaluative, contact-establishing (creating a relaxed communication between the author and the reader), summarizing and the function of confirming the thought ^{[11, pp. 111-119]}.

Among the frequent pragmatic functions of Moiseev I. Yu., Chudina E. V., the following are distinguished: 1) the function of attracting the attention of the addressee; 2) the function of accentuation (highlighting) of communicatively significant elements; 3) the function of information compression ^[16].

Summarizing the classifications of G.L. Permyakov, A.V. Kunin, O. B. Abakumova, as well as the systematization of the functions of I.Y. Moiseeva and E.V. Chudina, we identify the following main pragmatic functions of Korean proverbs in the English-speaking mass media space of South Korea: contact-establishing; attention-attracting function; cumulative; emotional-expressive function; summarizing; evaluative; cautionary; directive.

The political discourse analyzed in this article is intended for the mass recipient. Proverbs, as precedent statements, appeal to the ethical and moral aspects of reality. The study of the communicative and pragmatic functions of the paroemias allows us to determine the author's intentions. A separate proverb in a political text can perform several functions. With the development of communicative linguistics, proverbs are considered as multifunctional phraseological units of the language.

Korean proverbs are used in English-language media texts on political topics to describe the internal and external problems of the state and the people. It should be noted that the number of media texts with Korean proverbs for assessing internal political problems is much higher (80% - 67 articles).

In general, a statistical analysis of the selected 120 fragments of political media discourse showed the following distribution according to the communicative and pragmatic functions of the above-mentioned classification:

· directive function - 3 media texts (2%);

· cautionary – 5 media texts (4%);

· emotional and expressive function - 7 media texts (6%);

· estimated -8 media texts (7%);

· summarizing - 8 media texts (7%);

· Multiple functions - 89 media texts (74%).

            It should be noted that in this study there are no examples with exclusively contact-fixing, cumulative functions and the function of attracting attention. These pragmatic functions are inherent in almost all Korean proverbs in media texts.

Let's consider examples of English-language media texts with Korean parodies aimed at performing communicative and pragmatic functions. To begin with, let's analyze the Korean proverb “Don't tie a shoelace in a melon field!” according to the levels of content.

1. Literal, direct translation: "Don't tie a shoelace in a melon field";

2. Figurative meaning: "If you don't want to look suspicious, don't do anything compromising you";

To understand the pragmatic meaning of this proverb, it is necessary to consider it in context: Suspicions have arisen over why Yang Jeong-cheol — the head of a think tank of the ruling Democratic Party and an aide for President Moon Jae-in's presidential campaign — met with National Intelligence Service Chief Suh Hoon last week at a restaurant in Seoul. A Korean proverb says, “Don’t tie a shoelace in a melon field!” if you don’t want to trigger unnecessary suspicions ^[26]. / Suspicions have arisen about a meeting between Yang Jong Chol, head of the ruling Democratic Party think tank and presidential campaign aide Moon Jae-in, and the head of the National Intelligence Service, Su Hoon, in a Seoul restaurant last week. A Korean proverb says, "Don't tie your shoelaces in a melon field!" if you don't want to arouse unnecessary suspicion. (here and further the translation is made by the author of the article. – T. S.).

3. pragmatic (functional) meaning:

In this context, the author points to a situation in which a private meeting in a restaurant of three government representatives interested in the elections: the head of the analytical center of the Ruling Democratic Party, the Presidential campaign adviser and the head of the National Intelligence Service raises certain suspicions. The functional meaning of this proverb allows the author to express his assessment.

An example of a directive function is the use of the Korean proverb "Specks of dust can form a large mountain" in the article "Young Koreans abandon the lifestyle of "Living Only Once" to save their pennies" by Korea JoongAng Daily.

«One Korean proverb says, “specks of dust can form a large mountain”. It is supposed to encourage people to save their pennies. However, in today’s age of ultra-low interest rates and skyrocketing housing prices, many young Koreans scoff that specks of dust simply remain specks» ^[27]. / "One Korean proverb says: "A huge mountain can turn out of dust particles" (1-direct translation).  It is supposed to encourage people to save their money (2-figurative meaning). However, in today's era of ultra-low interest rates and skyrocketing housing prices, many young Koreans laugh at the fact that specks of dust just remain specks" (Young Koreans abandon the YOLO (You Only Live Once) lifestyle (We Only Live Once) to save their pennies. The author recommends following the advice of an old Korean proverb (3-pragmatic meaning). The article argues that modern Korean youth need to reconsider their spending and take an example from those few young people who have found ways to optimally combine savings and a decent lifestyle.

The following fragment serves as an example of the cautionary function of Korean parodies in the political media discourse.

The article "Kim Ye Jung warns the United States of disappointment" quotes Kim Ye Jung about the misconceptions of the United States about dialogues with the DPRK.

In her statement Tuesday, Kim Yo-Jong referred to Sullivan's remarks and referred to a Korean proverb, "In a dream, what counts most is to read it, not to have it," seeming to suggest greater analysis is needed on the Americans' part ^[28]. / In her statement on Tuesday, Kim Yo Jong, referring to Sullivan's remarks, quoted a Korean proverb: "In a dream, the main thing is not to dream, but to interpret it correctly," which apparently suggests that the United States is misinterpreting the actions and statements of the DPRK.

The North Korean politician quotes the Korean folk proverb "In a dream, what counts most is to read it, not to have it": "In a dream, the main thing is not to see a dream, but to interpret it correctly," the figurative meaning of which is to warn the United States against misinterpreting the situation, as a result of which erroneous expectations will become the cause of deep disappointment. The pragmatic function of this proverb in the fragment under consideration is a warning.

The interpretation of the proverb is conditioned by the cultural code. Ethnic proverbs are often referred to by foreign-language authors. In most cases, the use of folk proverbs serves as an attempt to make their argument true for the addressee. The clear meaning of the saying, expressed with the help of familiar images, allows the authors to emphasize the correctness of their point of view. N. Norrick notes, "calling for the help of tradition and the community as a whole, the speaker not only disappears as an individual directive agent, but also imposes social sanctions on the listener, forcing him to react in a certain way" (Norrick, 1994).

The Korea Herald article "Critics lash out at Yoon for a "poorly planned" meeting with Kishida" quotes the President of South Korea on the outcome of the meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. « “South Korea-Japan relations aren’t resolved with a spoonful of rice,” Yoon said, using a proverb to describe the complicated nature of bilateral relations» ^[29]. / The relationship between South Korea and Japan is not solved with one spoonful of rice," Yun said, using a proverb to describe the complex nature of bilateral relations. The South Korean President quoted a Korean proverb to describe the difficulties that arise in the difficult diplomatic relations between the two countries. In this case, we can consider the summarizing function of the Korean proverb "You can't get enough with a spoonful of rice"/"You can't solve a problem with a spoonful of rice."

One of the most common pragmatic functions that proverbs perform is emotionally expressive. Authors of articles and essays in South Korea often use ethnic parodies to emotionally color the described event or situation. For example, in an article by THE DONG-A ILBO publishing house in the Psychotherapy column, the author vividly expresses his point of view about the illogicality of the verdict of the Supreme Court against a convicted farmer, which includes a mandatory psychotherapy course. The author quotes a Korean proverb “As a Korean saying goes, men and melons are hard to know. This implies the concept of fundamental ego. In short, fundamental ego doesn’t mean an ego that appears in response to external conditions, like a customized product» ^[30]. / As the Korean saying goes, "Men and melons are hard to distinguish." This implies the concept of a fundamental ego. In other words, the fundamental ego does not mean an ego that arises in response to external conditions as an individual product." "Men and melons are difficult to distinguish," says the author, speaking about the versatility of the human EGO.

In the article "Ocean Navy" published by The Korea herald, the author quotes the Korean folk proverb "If a crow-tit walks like a stork, he only breaks his legs" - "If a tit goes the way of a stork, it will break its legs" ^[31]. Depending on the context, this proverb may have different interpretations. Native speakers of the Korean language call "tits" both people who do not have special talents, unsuccessfully striving for heights unattainable for them, and hard workers who are unable to achieve quick results, like others with great opportunities or connections. The pragmatic meaning of this proverb is not to do what you really can't do. The author of the article mentions that this parody, often used to describe excessive ambitions in planning future actions, has been repeatedly used in the media space of South Korea in relation to the construction of a naval base on the southern coast of Jeju Island to protect against possible provocations from North Korea. In this case, the South Korean Navy is compared with the Seventh American Fleet. In conclusion, the author, through this allegory, but already in relation to the whole state, expresses his personal opinion on the current situation: "The Republic of Korea may no longer be a crow-tit, but we should first look at ourselves and the movements of our neighbors before deciding to walk like a stork" / "The Republic of Korea may no longer be a tit, but we must first look at ourselves and the actions of our neighbors before deciding to walk like a stork." Thus, the author warns the reader against excessive skepticism about his navy, nevertheless returning to the need to find a rational solution to issues in the field of the economy and security of the country. This article is a vivid example of the use of a proverb for additional appeal to the reader's emotions, more effective argumentation of one's position and recommendations of an edifying nature by constructing the same allegorical images for different realities. The proverb performs several functions in the analyzed context.

In the article Thought Development More Important Than Learning English published by The Korea times, the author, an English teacher from the United States, discusses the differences in the mentality of representatives of Western and Eastern cultures. Quoting the Korean proverb "Empty vessels make a lot of noise" ^[32]. / An empty cart makes a lot of noise), the author tries to explain the general trends in the behavioral stereotypes of South Koreans, which consist in the reluctance to ask a lot of questions, double-check information, even within the framework of safety or professional necessity. Russian Russian author notes the similarity of this parody with the English proverbs "Curiosity killed the cat" (Curiosity killed the cat (Russian equivalent: "A curious Barbarian had her nose torn off at the bazaar") and "Too much knowledge is a dangerous thing" (Excessive knowledge is dangerous (Russian equivalent: "If you know a lot, you will soon grow old"). Nevertheless, despite the universality of the cultural code in this case, the meaning of folk wisdom is nationally determined ^[9]. According to the author, Koreans unnecessarily follow the postulate "Don't ask too many questions." As an example, the author connects the problems of the administration of Lee Myung-bak (President of the Republic of Korea from February 25, 2008 to February 25, 2013) in solving economic issues with the unwillingness or inability to search for and investigate the true causes of the difficulties. Thus, the author, using a Korean proverb, tries to explain the reason for the lack of communication in the country at different levels, to encourage residents of the country to reconsider their attitude to learning a foreign language, solving internal and external political problems. The author uses a Korean proverb for several purposes: generalizing previously gained experience, summarizing, attracting attention, assessing the situation and warning against possible negative consequences.

Due to the fact that the proverb does not require additional argumentation, in most cases the author uses parodies to compress information and create a familiar vivid image.

The contextual examples of the use of Korean proverbs in articles on political topics in Table 1 are an example of the multifunctional nature of Korean proverbs in the political discourse of the English-speaking media of South Korea.

Table 1. Examples of the functions of Korean proverbs in the political discourse of the English-language media of South Korea

So, we have determined that Korean proverbs in English-language media texts, used by the authors to achieve various communicative goals, are examples of multifunctional paremiological units that not only decipher the cultural code of the national mentality, but also provide a wide range of formats and approaches for the author's interaction with the audience.

Conclusion

The process of generating and understanding a text involves the analysis of speech actions not only taking into account the psychological and sociolinguistic aspects of the speaker, but also the peculiarities of discourse and the functional potential of linguistic means. Proverbs reflect cultural and value models that are in demand in a linguistic society. Proverbs make it possible to explain political realities in a simplified form, perhaps unnecessarily difficult for the reader.

Depending on the context, in addition to the common language, Korean proverbs in English-language media texts perform a whole range of general grammatical functions, in particular, varieties of communicative and pragmatic functions: evaluative, emotionally expressive and compression. Korean proverbs in the English-speaking South Korean media are multifunctional, which allows the author to achieve several goals, influencing not only native speakers of Korean traditions and culture, but also a foreign-speaking audience.

In general, based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that the political discourse of English-language media texts in South Korea is dominated by articles in which Korean proverbs perform several functions. The multifunctionality of Korean paremias was noted in 89 cases, which is 74% of the total number of fragments considered. The smallest number – 3 media texts (about 3%) refers to examples in which the authors use Korean parodies exclusively for the implementation of a directive function.

The creative and appropriate use of ethnic Korean proverbs and sayings in the English-speaking political media discourse not only gives the author's speech a special expressiveness, but also allows him to effectively influence the reader regardless of belonging to the culture of the country.

We see prospects for further research in a comparative examination of Korean proverbs based on media texts of other languages.